Karate in the Olympics!!

KSA Presidents Opening Statement

KSA, previously known as KASA, in existence for almost 15 years has in the past been renowned for serious challenges, both politically and technically. The current NEC, together with the Presidents Council under my current term of presidency, is very focused on good governance as laid out by our former interim administrator Mubarak Mahomed of our governing body, SASCOC.

As we celebrate our first anniversary in office it will be fair to say that huge strides through the various recently established KSA commissions have been made with regards to firstly development of athletes and administrators in general. This certainly augurs well for the future.

As a matter of interest our athletes performances in the international arena, particularly in the African continent have been awesome highlight of which are the outstanding performances made in the Zone 6 Africa Championships over the past 2 years in succession (2013,2014). In addition Gauteng's Michael du Plessis won the first gold medal for team South Africa since 1996 at the All Africa (UFAK) Championships in 2013 and repeated this remarkable feat in 2014. In addition Shaun Marais, a young coloured lad from the Western Cape was crowned World Youth Champion at the WKF Youth Cup during July 2013 in Greece. The first ever for a South African Athlete. Both outstanding achievements indeed!

On the political front our CEO, Carlos Vilela, was appointed treasurer of the Zone 6 organisation and yours truly was appointed the Vice President of the Commonwealth Nations of the World. Result of which is that KSA now has a voice in the affairs of the Zone 6 and Commonwealth karate. We are also, from a technical point of view, proud to state that our chief referee Llewellyn Rhoda is recognised as an international referee by the World Karate Federation (WKF) that apart it is also pleasing to note that several of our senior Protea coaches are now internationally approved to officiate at world championships by the powers that be.

In the final analysis I remain firmly optimistic that KSA is moving onwards and upward in terms of growth and stability moreover through the practice of good governance, transparency, accountability we will collectively achieve our goals. I urge you to take serious cognisance of our cliché, "Together we can do more in shaping the future of our youth through the medium of karate".